Film Roman
thumb|right|Film Roman's headquarters in Burbank Film Roman is an American animation studio, jointly owned by Starz Inc. and The Weinstein Company as a subsidiary of Starz Media, LLC. Founded by veteran animator and director Phil Roman in early 1984, it is best known for producing the source animation for The Simpsons, King of the Hill for 20th Century Fox Animation, as well as the Garfield and Peanuts animated TV specials. History Beginning Phil Roman, veteran alumnus of Chuck Jones Enterprises and Bill Melendez Productions, originally founded Film Roman in 1984 as a means to continue the production of the Garfield series of animated prime time television specials, since Melendez's own studio was unable to work on both the Garfield and Peanuts series of specials. Peanuts executive producers Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez and their aforementioned studio had produced the first two Garfield specials (Here Comes Garfield (1982) and Garfield on the Town (1983) respectively, both specials directed by Roman), but due to the wishes of both Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz and Garfield creator Jim Davis' concerns about conflicting interests in allocating production priority at Melendez's boutique studio, the production had to be moved. While he was leaving him and Melendez for his already-established studio, Roman was offered the opportunity to produce the next Garfield prime time special, Garfield in the Rough (1984), for CBS by Mendelson, which he accepted and went on to produce and direct it all by himself, winning an Emmy in the process. Formation In 1985, CBS' head of children's programming Judy Price had commissioned an animated television series based on the Garfield prime time special series, later ultimately titled Garfield and Friends, which took three years for Roman to decide developing and producing the program before it eventually aired on the network's Saturday morning time slot, premiering on September 17, 1988. The aforementioned show was Film Roman's first regular series. In 1986, in an effort to expand and diversify the studio, Roman hired Marvel Productions VP of Business Affairs and his own personal attorney, Michael Wahl, as President and Bill Schultz, Marvel's Director of Development, to join in the company as the fledgling studio's VP of Production and Development. Garfield and Friends was expanded to an hour on CBS' number one rated Saturday Morning block and the studio grew to increase its capacity. In 1988, the new management team developed, sold and produced a new series, Bobby's World, to the brand new Fox Kids Network, headed up by former Marvel Productions executive producer Margaret Loesch. In 1992, Film Roman took over the source production of 20th Century Fox's The Simpsons from Klasky-Csupo who had produced the one-minute teaser cartoon shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show as well as the animation for the first three seasons and the first two episodes of the fourth season (in total 61 episodes). The studio went on to grow and produce many popular animated series now seen all around the world. Location The original studio was located on Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake, where Roman was also joined by Melendez producer Lee Mendelson. Years later, the studio moved to a new location on Chandler Blvd. in Studio City, before settling into its present location at Starz Plaza on Hollywood Way in Burbank, which it shares with the former Hub Network and Hasbro Studios. Television series *''Garfield and Friends'' (1988–1994) *''Bobby's World'' (1990–1998) *''Zazoo U'' (1990–1991) *''Mother Goose and Grimm'' (1991–1993) *''Mighty Max'' (1993–1994) *''The Mask: The Animated Series'' (1995–1997) *''The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat'' (1995–1997) *''The Baby Huey Show'' (1995–1996) *''The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper'' (1996–1998) (animation sequences) *''C Bear and Jamal'' (1996–1997) *''Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm'' (1996) *''Richie Rich'' (1996) *''Bruno the Kid'' (1996–1997) *''Slacker Cats'' (2007) *''Dan Vs.'' (2011–2013) Subcontracted from others: for Gracie Films: *''The Simpsons'' (1992–present; since season 4) *''The Critic'' (1994–1995) for Marvel Animation: *''X-Men: Evolution'' (2000–2003) *''The Super Hero Squad Show'' (2009–2011) *''The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes'' (2010–2012) *''Ultimate Spider-Man'' (2012–present) various other studios: *''Klutter'' (1995–1996) (as part of Eek! Stravaganza) *''Family Guy'' (1999–2000; seasons 1–2 only) *''King of the Hill'' (1997–2010) *''Mission Hill'' (1999–2002) *''The Oblongs'' (2001–2002) *''Free For All'' (2003) *''Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!'' (2006–2010) *''Eloise: The Animated Series'' (2006) *''The Goode Family'' (2009) *''Beavis and Butt-head'' (2011) Puppet/CGI shows: *''The Mr. Potato Head Show'' (1998) *''Tripping the Rift'' (2004–2007) Television specials ''Garfield'' specials * Garfield in the Rough (1984, the studio's inaugural production) * Garfield's Halloween Adventure (1985) * Garfield in Paradise (1986) * Garfield Goes Hollywood (1987) * A Garfield Christmas (1987) * Happy Birthday (1988) * Garfield: His 9 Lives (1988) * Garfield's Babes and Bullets (1989) * Garfield's Thanksgiving (1989) * Garfield's Feline Fantasies (1990) * Garfield Gets a Life (1991) Other specials * Nick and Noel (1993) * A Cool Like That Christmas (1994) * Izzy's Quest for Olympic Gold (1995) * The Story of Santa Claus (1996) (co-production with Arnold Sharpio and CBS Productions) * The Magic Pearl (1997) * Hairballs (2000) (Unsold TV series pilot created by Mr. Lawrence) * Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (2000) * American Dad! (2004) (Pilot episode only) Films Direct-to-video * The Happy Elf (2005, co-production with IDT Entertainment) * Hellboy Animated (2006–2007) * Dead Space: Downfall (2008, co-production with Electronic Arts) * The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009) (Planned for theatrical release) * Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic "Prologue", "The Arrival", "Entry to Hell" (2010, co-production with Electronic Arts) * Dead Space: Aftermath (2011, co-production with Electronic Arts) Theatrical features * Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992/1993, co-production with Miramax Films, LIVE Entertainment, Turner Pictures, WMG and Turner Entertainment) * The Simpsons Movie (2007, co-production with 20th Century Fox and Gracie Films, co-animation with Rough Draft Studios) Miscellaneous * The Simpsons Ride (2008, amusement simulator ride film produced for the attraction of the same name at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood) Web series * Camp WWEWWE Studios and Film Roman announce 'Camp WWE' irreverent animated web series Notes External links * * * Category:American animation studios Category:Companies established in 1984 Category:Film production companies of the United States Category:Television production companies of the United States Category:Companies based in Los Angeles County